Carrot Lox

Salmon lox was one of those things that I used to eat a lot of as a pescetarian and think, “nope, never going to stop” as I piled it over a bagel smothered in cream cheese and topped with red onion and capers. I loved seeing pieces of if drenched in cream-based sauces over pasta, and dug into boxes of it during the holidays. Whenever I went to a deli, I always ordered a salmon lox bagel. The smoke, the salt, the texture—everything about it just worked.

Following the same slow, salt-roasting technique I recently did with golden beets, a vegan version of lox was easy to recreate, although it took a few tries. The one thing I discovered through making several test batches is that the secret to getting that lox-y quality is to marinate them for two or three days after slow-roasting them. They develop an impossibly soft and velvety texture during this time, and the smoke flavor mellows to a perfect level.

Ingredients

TO SERVE

bagels

vegan cream cheese

capers

minced red onion

fresh dill

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.

To slow roast the carrots, place one cup of coarse sea salt into a glass pyrex that offers just enough room to accommodate the length and width of the carrots so you can keep them whole. Rinse the unpeeled carrots and place them wet into the salt, making sure that the carrots are nestled in the salt and do not make contact with the bottom of the pyrex. Pour about another whole cup of salt evenly over the tops, adding a bit more as needed to ensure they are fully covered in salt.

Place into the oven to roast, uncovered, for an hour and a half.

Once done, tip the pyrex over onto a baking sheet and allow the carrots to cool just enough that you can handle them. Crack away and brush off any salt, then peel away the skin. It’s fine if there is still some skin left on the carrot. Then, using a mandolin or sharp knife, finely chop the carrots into jagged, thin strips. Place into a clean glass container.

To marinate the carrots, whisk together the olive oil, liquid smoke and coconut vinegar. (If you have a little more or little less than 1 1/2 cups carrot, just add a little more or less of the liquid components as needed.)

Drizzle over the warm carrots and toss well to coat. At this point, the flavor will not taste very “lox like”—they will need to be placed in the refrigerator for at least two days to allow the flavor to deepen and mellow, and for the carrots to get really soft and silky.

*If the carrots start to look dry during marinating time, add an additional tablespoon of olive oil and give it a good stir. (You want the carrots to look soft and slightly shiny throughout the marinating time.)

When ready to serve, remove from the refrigerator and allow the carrots to come to room temperature, then serve with toasted bagels, capers, vegan cream cheese, red onion and fresh sprigs of dill as desired.

Reader Interactions

Comments

I have been waiting for this recipe. if I had seen these photos independent of your blog or any explanation, I would just think, "oh, lox. that thing I used to love and eat in every hotel room for breakfast, or any chance I could…"

it looks so real! if you achieved that smoky flavor I am missing, I cannot wait to make this! THANK YOU

Thanks Lan! The liquid smoke is usually around the BBQ sauce, and comes in a little bottle. You can also find it on amazon. I like colgin brand. Love the avocado sub for cram cheese — that would work really well here too … I hope you enjoy!

I will be making this very shortly!! Thanks so much for your time and effort spent developing this recipe… it looks like a real winner and a great way to experience the flavor and texture of lox in a compassionate manner.

I have a wood smoker so I'd like to experiment with actually smoking this (rather than just using liquid smoke). Let me know if you have any ideas for when in the process I ought to do that. Thankfully carrots are so cheap that I can withstand some trial and error 🙂

Hi Erin! Is there a substitute for the coconut vinegar? I have a ton of different vinegars in my pantry, but not coconut. My husband is a huge lox spread fan and I'd love to try making this version. Thank you!

This looks so great! There is a new brand of vegan cream cheese that I'm obsessed with (Kite Hill). They've just recently started carrying it at my local Whole Foods – I would highly recommend it if it's available near you. The carrot lox would be excellent with it!

This definitely fits the smoky, velvety bill. And probably even better that you've never had lox, to experience the texture for what it is without comparing it to something else. I hope you enjoy, Christine!

Jenny, yep, just leave them in the marinade — the olive oil will continue to soften them and make them better the longer they sit. I have kept them in the fridge for up to one week with no issues … hope you enjoy!

The carrot lox was astounding. I'm vegan, wife is not. She had salmon lox and bagel a couple of days ago at a local restaurant, and then I made the carrot lox. She wasn't sure there was any difference in taste. You are a kitchen magician

This recipe turned out AMAZINGLY! Thank you so much for such a great food experience. I made a tofutti, garlic and white wine sauce to go with some pasta, and topped it with the carrot lox, dill, and a nice squeeze of lemon. Absolutely divine. My omi husband also raved about it, taking some to our neighbours (good friends) and insisted they try some. They also couldn't believe it was carrot.Win, win, win! On the shortlist for dinner parties.

My salt and carrots are stuck in the pyrex! (They are still hot.) Is that typical? Should maybe I spritz it with water once it's cool(er) so I can chip it out easier? Don't want to break my pyrex. 🙁(maybe next time I'll line the dish with parchment paper)

Wendalete, that's never happened to me! But I suspect that there wasn't enough salt on the bottom of the dish, which caused the liquid to pool and clump. I hope you were able to get it out and enjoyed the vegan lox!

This is great ! I just made it and was so impressed with the results ! I put a little bit less liquid smoke and added maple syrup, brown sugar and coarse salt. In a bagel with cashew cream cheese, capers, lemon juice, red onions and dill, I could not tell the difference between that and actual lox. I am eager to experiment with this recipe (perhaps add juniper berries to the marinade ?). Many thanks for this beautiful recipe !!

My omnivorous coworker was skeptical when I first told him about this recipe, but he was totally dumbfounded when he tasted the bagel and then raved about it to my other coworkers. Can't wait to try it again !

I just made my fourth batch and this time I used the salt ( still in the dish from the last batch 2 days ago) twice and it worked out just fine which is a good thing as I would hate to waste it ( was thinking to use it to melt ice if it ever gets cold enough here to freeze! ) This is such a huge hit ( I even fooled and surprised my co-worker who catches and smokes his own fish) I also didn't have coconut vinegar the first time and used Apple Cider Vinegar and it was fine too! P.S. I have tried a few other recipes from various blogs etc. but your recipe is THE best! Thank you!!

I wonder if you ever tried flaxseed oil instead of olive oil? I bought some to use in a watermelon "salmon" recipe, and it is very buttery and kind of fishy! I also wanted to give a shout out for Trader Joe's vegan cream cheese – I have a feeling this is going to be phenomenal! My carrots are cooking now 🙂

Hi Erin, I came across your blog when i was doing a search for RAW carrot lox. I have a plant-based assignment for a course i'm doing on raw foods, and i really would love to be able to prepare a carrot lox but was wondering if you've ever tried making this without the roasting element. Would curing and marinading be enough to change the texture and infuse flavour? any idea if a dehydrator would work instead of roasting? from your experience, If you don't think this could be done.. i'll try to work on some other idea.. but your recipe and techniques look fantastic.

Roya, that's an interesting thought! I am sure that testing different curing and marinading techniques would give you some interesting results. Although I've never tried it, I do think that Chef Hiram Camillo has made a salt-cured raw carrot lox. Check out his portfolio and maybe reach out to him to see what he did? http://www.hiramcamillo.com/#!portfolio/c10g1

Hi Erin, Thanks for this phenomenal technique!! I have a couple of questions. What flavor of liquid smoke did you use? I used Wright’s Mesquite, but I read in another article about smoking salmon that they would recommend apple or hickory. Just wondering what you used. Also, what are the benefits of salt roasting over just roasting? Is it for the flavor or something else? Mine is marinating on Day 1 and I am so impatient waiting for it!! 🙂

Hi Serene, I think I used Colgin brand. Salt roasting steams and concentrates the flavor, giving it a completely different texture from roasting, which uses dry heat. While both produce delicious results, you’ll get a silkier result with salt roasting/baking … I hope you enjoy the lox!

I finally got a chance to make these, and I’m so happy I did. You can see a photo of the results here: http://imgur.com/jkw1Vpe

One question–do you use coarse or fine sea salt for roasting? I used fine, but I had a heck of a time getting the carrots out. The salt had hardened a lot in the oven, and it took some chipping away to break through (without destroying the tender carrots. I also had a hard time peeling the carrots so I had to leave a few peels on because I’d given up.

Also, like the previous commenter, I wondered what type of liquid smoke you used. I think mine is hickory, and it didn’t seem quite right. It was good, of course…just not exactly the smokiness I expected.

Andy, looks amazing … I’m so happy you liked! I use fine salt for this, but coarse is worth a try if you were having an issue with it sticking.

If the liquid smoke isn’t giving you the right kind of smokiness, you can always try smoked paprika in it’s place. I’ve never tried, but suspect it may give you the result you are looking for. If you do with success, I’d love to know!

My omnivore, New-York born, Jewish husband took one bite and remarked “genius”. His heritage, I suspect, then made him backpedal for a second “Well, I mean, it doesn’t taste, EXACTLY like lox”. I reminded him, it’s not supposed to. It’s a carrot after all, delicious in it’s own carrot-y right. Besides, no salmon were harmed in the making, and it satisfies any salty, smoky, lox-y craving I might have. He agreed, then promptly scooped the last of it on his vegan cream cheese-slathered bagel. “We should always keep a big container of this in the fridge,” he said. Thank you for posting this GENIUS recipe.

This is AMAZING. I was a pescetarian before I went vegan, and I’d given up dairy and eggs an entire year before I could give up sushi and smoked salmon. I know now that I can live and thrive without it, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it sometimes. When my husband brought me home a dozen bagels from NYC, I knew I had to make this. It exceeded all of my expectations. This is vegan magic at its finest! I love that I can have smoky, velvety lox without hurting anyone.

I think next time, I’ll put more than a cup of salt on the bottom, so it’ll be easier to remove from the pan. I used kosher coarse salt, and I saved it so I can reuse it. I’ll also experiment with a mix of olive oil and flaxseed oil next time, so I can work some omega-3s into my lox. But it really did come out perfectly as written, and I can’t thank you enough for sharing this easy, accessible method!

Shannon, thanks so much for your kind feedback and I’m so happy that this created a viable substitute for you! Giving up fish was probably the hardest for me too, but it’s amazing what vegetables can do. Good luck with the olive /flaxseed oil for your next batch! 🙂

Hiya,
My carrots are SUPER salty. I used quite small carrots and still cooked it for the 90 mins. It still tastes great on the bagel with all the trimmings, but I can’t eat it by itself. Will a shorter cook time make them less salty? Thanks for this recipe (and the blog in general). I’m having a lot of fun with these dishes!

Hi Anne, I recommend using large carrots for the bake time listed here. The only reason I can think that your carrots were super salty is that you may have peeled them before baking? Once baked then peeled, the carrots should not be salty at all!

Yeah, I just made it today and the carrots are crazy salty. I think for one, my carrots were on the smaller side. And two, I used regular fine salt. I am going to try this again using larger carrots and coarse salt to see if that works. Other than the extreme saltiness, the flavor is spot on. I LOVE that I can have lox now!! YAY!

I came here from Mary’s Test Kitchen. This recipe seems soooo awesome.
Since it is sunday today, I can’t buy groceries, but I’m going to try this tomorrow!
<3
I am already happy, just because I might get to taste the oily, savory, awesomeness of Räucherlachs again

This was EXTREMELY identical to actually lox, it’s absolutely amazing thank you for this recipe! In my grocery store I never see “large” carrots, so my pieces are all jagged and weird but it still had a GREAT taste. Using left overs to throw in some lemon pasta. Will be sharing this recipe with others 🙂

Ugh, I had to use Hickory Liquid Smoke because I didn’t have any other but after looking it up and adding it to the marinade I found out that you’re supposed to use Alder or Applewood wood chips to smoke salmon or else it’ll smell like fishy bacon….noooooo.

I’m actually not vegan, but I love these and have made them several times now. To streamline, and because I care more about taste than texture, I just roast the carrots normally (no salt). I also sometimes don’t get all the skin off, which only really affects how easy they are to cut up. I also add a lot more vinegar to the ratio, as I like them a little more pickle-like and less oily. Liquid smoke is the absolute essential ingredient to these – it really creates the perfect smoked flavor you’re looking for!

These are so deelish! I am so glad I have found your blog, thank you for these scrumptious recipes. My daughter and I are new vegans, always looking to maintain our quality of food-life.

This recipe is simple and straight forward with such a powerful outcome. We were surprised at how good these lox are. I can hardly wait the full day of Marinading in the fridge.

I did have a hard time peeling them at first , as I presumed they were peeled with a peeler as per usual with carrots. Once I realized it was easier to pull the skins off with my fingers. The skins came off easily when peeled off like birch bark (around the trunk of the tree). I just made a small slit along the length of the carrot to get a start, then the toughened skins just stripped away. I also added just a touch of sesame oil to the blend, because it was right there, asking me to. I thought it added a deepening to the smokiness, an authentic note to its replication of the salmon somehow.

I cannot wait to make holiday brunch lox platters with these! And I would definitely take these to non- vegan family & friends homes and celebrations.

I just made it tonight and I cannot wait to try it this Tuesday. I actually wrapped the carrots in nori before I roasted them and it added a very authentic flavor! But I cannot wait to enjoy this with Daiya cream cheese and a gluten free bagel!

We made sushi rolls with this tonight and it was great. Mine came out a touch too salty, either because I couldn’t get very thick carrots or used too much smoke or both. I might also follow the other comment suggestion about apple wood smoke instead of hickory– hickory was fine, but a touch strong.

Vin, thanks for the feedback! Maybe if you go for a more coarse salt grind next time, it would eliminate the saltiness? Maybe too the carrot skin was too thin on these carrots? Loved that you used this in sushi!

Recipe is incredible, I actually prefer this to actual lox. I love the sweetness of the carrots. I’m thinking of adding a little soy sauce to the marinade and I’m going to try it with flax oil next time. Absolutely delicious. 10/10

I found you through Sarah’s Vegan Kitchen on YouTube, and just had to try this recipe. Wow, it’s lovely!

I recently blogged my recipe for bagels and lox, using my own home-made bagels and cashew ricotta, plus your lox (with my own slight modification). Naturally, I have given you full credit for the lox, and have linked back to this blog post.

Erin, Your recipes are beyond fantastic, they are Amazing. I made your Carrot Lox with a few little tweaks last week (on my blog today with full credit to you) for a vegan friends Birthday and she adored them. Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing the recipe with us food bloggers so that we can recreate them at home.

Thanks so much for giving it a try and your very kind comment! I loved that you shared this and it was enjoyed by others. This is one of the main reasons I blog, so thank you for taking the time to let me know about your experience!

I tried this some time ago. I just popped back to the recipe to make it tonight when while scrolling through the comments I realised I must have forgotten to post my own opinions.
This is simply, incredibly wonderful. I have adored smoked salmon all my life as has my beloved. After becoming vegan I put things like fish of any kind out of my mind. When I came upon this recipe I thought it sounded promising. You far exceeded my imagination!
The taste and texture are shockingly accurate. We were both pleasantly surprised by the similarity to “real” salmon. If I had not made it myself I might have questioned the person presenting it to me. We have thoroughly enjoyed it on bagels with vegan cream cheese, capers. red onions and black pepper. I am making it again with the intention of using it in a spaghetti carbonara-ish, if there is any left once my beloved discovers it in the refrigerator.
Than-q for your time and effort in developing your recipes and sharing them with us. Things like this have the potential to remove the “obstacles” many feel when considering eating plant-based and certainly bring pleasure and joy to those already eating plant-based.
With gratitude and grace XO

This is amazing. I tried this week, using kosher salt and hickory liquid smoke. I would love to find a different liquid smoke, like cedar, if that’s a thing. But really, really delicious. Had it on bagels with vegan cream cheese which was delicious. It really really was amazing in homemade vegan sushi. Tasted just like a smoked salmon roll. Thank you for this amazing recipe!

I thought I was never going to enjoy a bagel with cream cheese and lox again after becoming vegan four years ago. Then I made your carrot lox. OMG!!! I’m Jewish, so I’ve had my share of lox over the decades. Erin, with the first bite of pretzel bagel, Tofutti cream cheese, onion, and carrot lox, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I was kvelling!! You are my heroine.

Oh gawsh this is SO GOOD! I make this on Tuesday evenings so we have lots for homemade sushi night on Fridays and bagels over the weekend!! THANK YOU!! Has anyone every tried doing this same method with other root vegetables? Turnip? Beet? Just thinking of cool ideas for sushi night.

Omg.. I made this for my mother who is a vegan and little brother who is allergic to fish. I made a “mock smoked salmon dip” and it was a HIT! Even the non-vegans at the party couldn’t believe it was carrots. Thank you very much for sharing this recipe.

I’m right in the middle of the marinate step. I have to say that after seeing my sad carrots come out of the salt looking wilted and small, I would slice them first before the salt step. We’ll see how the rest of it turns out, and maybe I needed fatter carrots! Great recipe and thank you.

I just want to commend you on making such an amazing recipe. It really tastes, smells, and has the same mouth feel as the real thing and is perfectly paired with the dill, capers, and everything. Even my boyfriend, who eats meat, thinks it tastes delicious and real.

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